Shipping tray



July 30. 1968 L. J. GRIFFITH 3,394,860

SHIPPING TRAY Filed Nov. 2, 1966 ,aa X 26 IIIIIHlllllllIIIIIILEUIHH I I I 1 LI! .1 H Iii MENTOR M 58 Lloyd J. Griffith 60 C BY ATTO United States Patent 3,394,860 SHIPPING TRAY Lloyd J. Griffith, Leawood, Kans., assignor to Plastic Enterprises, Incorporated, Independence, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Filed Nov. 2, 1966, Ser. No. 591,519 3 Claims. (Cl. 229) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A shipping container for coffee can over-caps includes a carton into which shipping trays are inserted in stacked relationship to one another. Each tray may be of corrugated cardboard construction and is formed with a pair of opposed sides between which the rows of over-caps are arranged in parallelism and extend normal to such sides. Partitions between the various rows are provided by elements which open to upright positions out of the base of the tray, forming of the sides and partitions being facilitated by appropriately arranged lines of fold in a blank from which the tray is fabricated. The carton is sized such that the side walls thereof frictionally receive the sides of each tray upon insertion of the latter into the carton; thus, the partitions are, in turn, frictionally held by the sides of the tray bearing thereagainst.

This invention relates to an article-receiving tray for insertion into a shipping carton, especially adapted to hold coffee can over-caps during shipment from the manufacturer to the point of application to the packed cans.

The recently developed over-cap for coffee cans eliminates the inconvenience once associated with the opening of cans of vacuum packed coffee by a turnkey. Cans may now be opened with an ordinary household can opener and the over-cap utilized as a lid until the contents are consumed. The widespread acceptance of the over-cap, furthermore, has led to the development of automatic machinery for applying caps to the cans.

oftentimes, the caps are not made by the coffee packer, but must be shipped from the manufacturer to the packer for application to the canned coffee. It is desired that the caps be arranged in cardboard shipping cartons in a manner such that they may be withdrawn therefrom in stacks or rows for loading into the automatic capping machinery. Presently, shipping cartons utilize a number of normally horizontal, internal panels disposed in overlying relationship to successive layers of caps as a means of supporting the next layer thereabove. Dividers are then utilized between the rows of caps of each layer. Therefore, many separate, internal components must be provided for the carton and handled by personnel during loading of the caps thereinto and subsequent removal of the caps from the carton. Additionally, this technique of packing is not entirely satisfactory since the caps of upper layers may drop down between the supporting panel and the wall of the cart-on during shipment.

It is, therefore, the primary object of this invention to provide a shipping tray for cardboard cartons or the like of one-piece construction which is capable of supporting articles arranged in rows thereon in a manner to maintain row integrity and positively confine the articles within the tray during shipment.

As a corollary to the foregoing object, it is an important aim of the instant invention to provide a tray blank of cardboard or the like which may be rapidly formed into a tray for insertion into a cart-on during loading of the latter.

Another important object is to provide a tray as aforesaid which effectively internally reinforces the carton and facilitates the removal of articles therefrom a row 3,394,860 Patented July 30, 1968 at a time. This is of special significance in the shipping of coffee can over-caps since the automatic capping machinery may be conveniently reloaded by transferring caps in rows directly from the carton to the magazine of the machine.

Furthermore, it is an equally important object to provide a tray blank capable of being rapidly formed by hand into a tray which fulfills the foregoing objects and materially lessens the number of internal components of the carton which must be handled during packing of the caps for shipment and unpacking thereof for loading into automatic capping machinery.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the tray blank;

FIGURE 1A shows a magnified plan view of the intersection of the cut lines which form the partition elements;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, elevational view of a carton having four trays therewithin, the side wall of the carton nearest the viewer being broken away to reveal the trays, the second tray from the top having its side member closest to the viewer broken away to reveal the interior construction, the second tray from the bottom being shown in central section; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, end section of the carton, the end wall thereof being removed to reveal the trays and caps therewithin, the row of caps on the upper tray nearest the viewer being removed to show the partition in elevation.

A tray blank in the form of a rectangular panel 10 is shown in FIG. 1 and may be composed of corrugated cardboard or a similar material. Panel 10 has a pair of opposed, longitudinal edges 12 and 14 and a pair of opposed, end edges 16 and 18. A pair of parallel lines of demarkation 20 span the distance between edges 16 and 18 and define an intermediate section 22 of panel 10 between lines of demarkation 20 and a pair of outer side members 24 and 26 between edge 12 and the proximal line 20 and edge 14 and the proximal line 20, respectively.

Each line of demarkation 20 includes six lines of bend 28 and four lines of severance 30. The ends of an elongated, rectangular opening 32 in the center of section 22 complete the lines of demarkation 20. Such lines of demarkation may be formed by scoring panel 10 along the entire length of the lines of demarkation 20, thereby forming the lines of bend 28. Subsequently, cuts would be made in panel 10 at the lines of severance 30, and then opening 32 may be formed by a stamping operation. Manifestly, a number of different techniques could be utilized to form the lines of bend 28 and the lines of severance 30, the manner in which these lines are placed in panel 10 being unimportant insofar as the instant invention is concerned.

It will be noted that the lines of bend 28 and the lines of severance 30 alternate except for the two centermost lines of bend 28 which are separated by the end of opening 32. A line of cut 34 and a line of fold 36 interconnect each opposed pair of lines of severance 30 and are arranged at right angles with respect thereto. The lines of cut 34 and the lines of fold 36 join with respective lines of severance 30 at the opposite extremities thereof, thereby defining four rectangular partition-forming elements 38. As seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, elements 38 present partitions when swung upwardly about respective lines of fold 36, this being facilitated by the provision of a pull-up hole 40 in each element 38 adjacent its line of cut 34. The lines of fold 36 may be placed in panel 10 by scoring the surface thereof, as with the lines of bend 28.

Edge 16 and the adjacent line of cut 34 define the longitudinal borders of an end base strip 42 interconnecting side members 24 and 26 at the lines of demarkation 20. Likewise, edge 18 and the adjacent line of cut 34 define the longitudinal borders of an end strip 44 interconnecting side members 24 and 26. Two intermediate base strips 46 are formed by adjacent fold lines 36 and cut lines 34, and another pair of intermediate base strips 48 are defined by opening 32 and the proximal lines of told 36. Base strips 46 and 48 also integrally interconnect side members 24 and 26 and are arranged in parallel relationship to the end base strips 42 and 44.

A row of finger slots 50 in side member 24 communicate with edge 12 and are disposed in aligned relationship to a row of opposing finger slots 52 in side member 26 communicating with edge 14. Each pair of aligned slots 50, 52 is roughly centered on the compartment which will be formed by an adjacent pair of elements 38 when the latter are folded along lines 36. In the case of each pair of end slots 50, 52, it will be appreciated from viewing FIG. 3 that the compartment is formed by the end partition 38 and the adjacent end wall 54 of a cardboard box or carton into which the tray is placed after the blank is properly formed.

FIGURE 1A shows a magnified plan view of the intersection of one of the lines of severance 30 and a correspond-line of cut 34. It will be noted that these lines are longitudinally wavy so that, when element 38 is shifted out of the plane of panel 10, the end margins thereof will, in effect, he serrated. The tray is formed from the blank by bending side members 24 and 26 upwardly along the lines of demarkation 20 and shifting elements 38 to a vertical attitude as discussed previously. Therefore, the row of teeth each element 38 is forced into engagement with the adjacent side member 24 or 26, particularly when the tray is inserted into carton 56. This is especially evident in FIG. 3, the opposed side walls 58 of carton 56 being spaced apart a distance to frictionally receive side members 24 and 26 of the tray with the partitions 38 held therebetween. Thus, slippage of the partitions 38 from their upright positions is minimized by the frictional interengagement of the teeth presenting end margins and the internal surfaces of side members 24 and 26; furthermore, the serrations also assist in holding partitions 38 in the plane of the blank prior to the time that it is desired to form the blank into a tray.

Carton 56 has a bottom 60 and a top 62 between which four trays are shown stacked one on top of the other in FIG. 2. The intermediate section 22 of the lowermost tray overlies bottom 60 with the upper trays being stacked on top of the side members 24 and 26 of the underlying tray (FIG. 3). The side members 24 and 26, partitions 38 and the end walls 54 of the carton maintain the caps C within the confines of the tray regardless of rough handling during shipping. The openings presented in the intermediate section 22 of each tray when partitions 38 are raised to their upright positions are considerably narrower than the diameters of the caps, opening 32 being provided so that the caps of the center row will be carried at the same elevation as the other caps of the layer. This is necessary since the two partitions 38 adjacent one end of the tray open to their upright positions in a direction of swinging movement opposite to the two partitions at the other end of the tray.

Finger slots 50 and 52 facilitate loading of caps C into the tray a row at a time as a row to be loaded may be grasped at each end and lowered into a particular tray compartment. The finger slots also facilitate the row-by-row removal of the caps from the tray as needed. When the tray is out of the carton during packing or unpacking, the end base strips 42 and 44 prevent lateral displacement of the end rows of caps C since each strip is offset with respect to the center of the row so that the caps extend into the opening formed by the raising of presented by each end margin of the end partition 38 and are held between the latter and the strip.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A shipping container for a plurality of rows of articles, said container comprising:

a panel provided with a pair of opposed side edges and a pair of opposed end edges interconnecting the side edges,

said panel having a pair of substantially parallel lines of demarkation spanning the distance between said end edges and relatively closely spaced from respective side edges,

each line of demarkation including a plurality of lines of bend alternating with a number of lines of severance so the panel may be bent upwardly along said lines of demarkation to form a tray having an intermediate, article-supporting section between said lines of demarkation and a pair of opposed side members defined by the lines of demarkation and respective side edges,

said section having a line of fold and a line of cut spanning the distance between said lines of demarkation at each line of severance respectively to form the section into base strips spanning opposed lines of bend and elements foldable upwardly along respective lines of fold to provide partitions dividing the tray into a plurality of compartments for receiving respective rows of articles; and

a carton provided with a pair of opposed side walls and having said trays disposed therewithin,

said side walls frictionally receiving said side members with said partitions held between the side members to thereby hold the tray together in supporting relationship to said rows of articles.

2. A container as claimed in claim 1,

each of said partitions having opposed end margins formed by a corresponding pair of opposed lines of severance,

each of said lines of severance being longitudinally wavy to provide the corresponding end margin with a row of teeth frictionally engaging the inner surface of the proximal side member upon insertion of the tray into the carton.

3. A container as claimed in claim 1,

there being a plurality of said trays in said carton in stacked relationship to one another,

the endmost lines of bend of each line of demarkation of each tray communicating with respective proximal end edges and the end elements opening in opposite directions of swinging movement away from respective end edges so that the end partitions thus provided are spaced from the adjacent end edges to form one of said compartments at each end of the tray,

said section of each tray having an opening therein in a compartment intermediate said end compartments thereof defined in part by the opposed lines of severance of said intermediate compartment in order that the row of articles in said intermediate compartment will be carried at the same elevation as the articles of the other rows of a given tray.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,205,157 6/1940 Schrbll 22928 2,366,557 2/1945 Rau 22928 2,640,589 6/1953 Foster et al 229-28 X 2,823,797 2/1958 Amatel 229-28 X 2,883,047 5/1959 Candell 206-65 DAVIS T. MOORHEAD, Primary Examiner. 

